Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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149. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he evaluates employment creation opportunities, directly and indirectly, through co-ordinated efforts between the areas of transport, tourism and sport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9305/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department's Mission Statement is to ensure that the transport, tourism and sport sectors make the greatest possible contribution to economic recovery, fiscal consolidation, job creation and social development.  As an Island, accessibility is a major focus and I have constantly sought to ensure that synergies between transport, tourism and sport are exploited to improve access to the country, enhance competitiveness and also create job opportunities.  It can be seen from our programmes that linkages and opportunities between the transport, tourism and sports sectors are identified and exploited.

In tourism this year we will build on the achievements of 2015. CSO figures show, that trips to Ireland in 2015 were up by 13.7% compared to 2014 with a total of 8.643 million overseas visits to Ireland.  There was also very strong growth in revenue from overseas visitors in 2015.  Earnings from overseas visits, excluding fares, were €4.2 billion.  This represented an increase of 18.6% on the previous year.  The strong performance has been continued into 2016.  The most recent statistics published by the CSO for the first quarter of 2016 show that the number of trips to Ireland for the first quarter of 2016 was up 16.6 % compared to the same period in 2015, with 1.785 million overseas visits to Ireland.  Therefore, tourism is playing a significant role in Ireland's economic recovery and has directly contributed to the maintenance and creation of new jobs.

My Department continues to contribute to the Government's Action Plan for Jobs and we will ensure that we deliver on our commitments within it. In developing the Action Plan, the Government is taking not just a short term view of job creation but is also laying the foundation for structures that facilitate and support longer term sustainable job creation opportunities. My Department is doing likewise.